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White Lightening / White Line Disease Treatment Questions

My horse has a moderate case of White Line Disease in all 4 hooves. I have worked with my farrier and vet and I believe we have made the necessary dietary changes needed. Based on the farrier's recommendations, I have also started treatments with White Lightening.

I did the first treatment yesterday. Wow, does that stuff work! After a good 45 minute soak in soaking baggies, all the black gunk was gone, normal smell and the hoof looked waaaay healthier!

I have two questions for those who have treated with White Lightening. First, how often and for how long did you treat. Farrier is coming out for another trim in 4 weeks (horse is barefoot) and he should be able to tell me how to proceed then. But until then, I was thinking about 2x-3x per week for the next 4 weeks. Should I do more or is that overkill?

Also, when you treat with White Lightening, did you apply anything to the hoof after the treatment or leave it be?

Horse is out 24/7 and the ground has finally dried up and no rain is expected - so I'd say the rest of the summer he'll mostly be on nice dry pasture.

Your 3-4 times a week program will probably do great. I didn't realize there was a dietary component to white line disease, so that's interesting. If you have time to do a search on this forum for Tommorrow,Today, White Lightning, dry cow or mastisis treatments, you will get some great older threads about treatments. Also try white line disease. I'm not so good at the "search" funtion here, but there is some good info.

Anyone else have any thoughts? I'm just wondering how long and how many treatments it usually takes. I know it probably depends on my circumstances, but just in general. The White Lightening gets pretty expensive and I don't want to overdo it if I don't have to.

Also, should I use anything else after the White Lightening treatment?

Mix in a light-proof container (i.e. an old well-cleaned bleach jug or a kitty litter jug--anything that doesn't allow the light to penetrate). Allow to sit for six hours before using. Shake the mixture before using. Place enough fluid to cover the bottom of the hoof. Watch the mixture carefully. As it turns brown and gross, pull the bags off the hooves and dump the mixture, adding more clear fluid. Soak for 30 minutes total (don't include the bag pulling/dumping/refreshing, obviously). Soak until the fluid no longer turns dark.

The jug of mixed fluid will last you about a week, and mixing it this way will safe you a lot of money. It's just as effective, if not more so, than using it out of the bottle and having it pre-mixed makes the soaking routine go quickly.

My gelding's hooves look amazing! I started a thread titled 'Bad, bad thrush' and you can read my update on how good they look. I'm a huge fan of White Lightning! I did the daily soaks because his case was so bad, but now we will be on a once a week maintenance plan.

As a side note, my farrier said that the bleach/water mix is not a good idea. I guess new research suggests it's more damaging to healthy tissue than good. From my own experience, I tend to agree. I tried bleach and water, and we couldn't fix the problem.

ETA: I also used a daily application of Quartermaster in the sulci and into the deep groove in the heel. That, along with the WL, finally fixed the problem. Quartermaster is only available through your vet, and it costs around $30 for a course of treatment.

I have White Lightening but haven't used it. Afraid my mare would freak about putting her foot into a plastic bag.

Yes - I used the heavy freezer zip lock bags, and I had the same concerns but was shocked when he didn't even seem to notice them. I secured them around his pasterns with duct tape them trimmed above the tape so the plastic wasn't flapping around. Worked great.

I'd give it a try on her front feet first and see what happens. My horse is pretty sensitive and did fine.

I have White Lightening but haven't used it. Afraid my mare would freak about putting her foot into a plastic bag.

Oakstable, yes, the plastic bag is essential to the treatment because what kills the fungus and bacteria is actually the gas that's created by the mixture of WL and vinegar. That's why WL doesn't hurt healthy tissue and is so safe to use.

I'll admit that I was terrified to put my gelding's feet in the plastic bags, but after the first bag was put on and he shot back 20 feet and gave me a death stare that implied I was a crazy jerk, he has taken it all like a gentleman. Seriously, once those bags are on the feet (secure them with vet wrap!), there's not much they can do. It helped that I took him to a super lush piece of grass and said, "if you're a good boy, you can eat as muuuch as you want to." We try to do it during meal time so that it makes the whole experience go more easily.

My personal experience is that Clean Trax is the best thing for WLD. One shot and it is gone. I have used it twice and it works like a charm. There is a trick to using it so if you ever want to try it let me know and I will share...and it is cheap too!

Mai Tai aka Tyler RIP March 1994-December 2011
Grief is the price we pay for love- Gretchen Jackson
"And here she comes. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's ZENYATTA!"

I cleared up a very mild case of White Line Disease with just one White Lightning treatment and daily spraying with apple cider vinegar/water. Then again, it was a very, very mild case; for something a bit more serious, I think twice a week would be more than enough.